Pink Roses (Evy Story 46)
by quietandsneaky
Summary: Evy makes a special request for her sixth birthday.


**Disclaimer: The characters of Supernatural do not belong to me. The original character of Evelyn Winchester does.**

Sam finished the dishes from making Evy's lunch, turned off the water, and headed back towards her room. It was getting close to Evy's sixth birthday, and Sam was wondering what to get her. Evy didn't ask for anything, so that made the job harder. He figured he would get her some kind of toy or book when they stopped at the next thrift store, but Sam wanted to do something special. He knew his biggest hurdle was their father, who refused anything he deemed overly extravagant. Sam didn't think he'd have trouble convincing John to let her have a cake, but for the first time ever, Sam was stuck on the present.

When Sam found Evy, he was surprised to find her going through pictures. She had an old photo of herself and him when she was a baby. Sam didn't remember exactly, but she couldn't have been more than a month old. In the picture, she was wearing a white baby dress with yellow trim. Evy had the photo propped in front of her, drawing with crayons into a notebook.

"Hey, Cricket. What are you doing?"

"Drawing." Evy said without looking up.

"I see that." Sam said. "What are you drawing?"

"This picture." Evy said, pointing to the photo. "That is me, right?"  
"I think so." Sam said with a grin. "Not unless I've got another baby sister I don't know about."

Evy offered a quick smile but turned back to her picture.

"You okay, Cricket?" Sam asked. "Is something bothering you?"

"No."

"You sure?" Sam prodded.

Evy frowned. "A little."

"What's up, Cricket? Talk to me." Sam said.

Evy put her crayon down and sat up. "Can I ask for something for my birthday?"

 _Absolutely!_ Sam thought, relieved to finally have a lead. "Of course you can. What is it?"

Evy sighed and looked back at the photo and her picture in the notebook. "I want a dress."

"You want what?" Sam asked.

Evy picked up the photo and handed it to Sam. "I want a dress."

"Where did this come from?" Sam asked.

Evy shrugged. "I don't know. I just found this picture and the dress is so pretty in it. But I don't have one now."

"Is there a reason you want a dress now?" Sam asked.

"All my clothes used to be yours or Deanie's or some other kid's. I'm the only little girl in this family. I just want something pretty to wear." Evy said.

"You know you're pretty anyway right?" Sam asked.

"Thanks." Evy said. "But I just want to feel like it."

Sam thought it over. "I can't promise, Cricket. But I'll do the best I can."

"Thanks, Sammy." Evy said with a grin, wrapping her arms around his neck.  
"You're welcome, Cricket." Sam said. "Thirty more minutes, then you gotta get ready for bed, okay?"  
"Okay." Evy said.

For the next two weeks, Sam stopped at every thrift store he could find. There were three in town, and he asked John and Dean to look when they were coming back from a hunt. He was happy he knew Evy's sizes. The problem was finding the perfect dress. Evy didn't have a favorite color, which both helped and hindered the search. He avoided solid colors but couldn't find the right pattern for her. John and Dean weren't helping, telling him to 'just pick one'.

Finally, Sam found it. It was exactly her size-a white, flower print, knee length dress, covered with pink roses. He remembered that roses had been Missy's favorite flower, so he'd be able to convince Evy the dress was special. She could wear it all year, which would be a selling point for John. In the winter, she could wear it with a long-sleeved shirt and in the spring she could wear it alone. Sam knew that it would last a year at most, but the look on Evy's face would be worth it. Sam had just enough cash for the dress and a pair of shoes.

He could hardly stand the wait that night. John and Dean were on their way back from a hunt, so Sam waited for them before giving her the present. Once all of them were together, and they'd had part of Evy's cake, Sam pulled out the gift bag with Evy's dress in it. He'd clued John and Dean in on what it was, so the two of them gave Evy their presents first.

"Cricket, this present is really special, so you have to take really good care of it, okay?"  
"Okay, Sammy." Evy said with a grin.

"Here you go." Sam pulled the dress out of the bag and Evy gasped. A smile slowly crept up on her face, and she ran her hands up and down the fabric. "What do you think, Cricket?"

"It's so pretty!" Evy said. "Can I go try it on?"

"You better." Sam said and handed her the shoes that were in the bottom of the bag. "Go in the bathroom. Call me if you need help."

Evy ran to the bathroom, and the three men waited for her to come out. At one point, John wanted to check on her, but Sam stopped him. Evy was in a phase where she wanted to do everything herself and got very upset when someone tried to force help on her. Fifteen minutes later, just as Sam was about to go into the back and check on her anyway, Evy walked back in. The dress fit perfectly, as did the shoes.

"Look at _you_!" Dean said, walking over and taking Evy's hand. "Looking good, kiddo."

"Thanks, Deanie." Evy said. She let Dean twirl her around a little, then hugged him around the waist.

John watched Evy, his heart softening at the sight of the smile on her face. He'd been resistant to the idea of buying her a dress, and had only said yes to avoid an argument with Sam. A dress just wasn't practical to bring on the road with them, and he saw it as an unnecessary wast of money. Now, he was happy he'd gone against his judgement and allowed it. The dress was adorable, and Evy's smile alone made it worth the extra expense. Evy walked over to him, still smiling. John bent down and took her hand.

"You look beautiful, little one." John said sincerely.

Evy blushed. "You really think so, Daddy?"

"Yes." John said.

Evy's smile turned into a teeth flashing grin and she grabbed John around the neck. "Thank you, Daddy."  
"You're welcome."

Once Evy let him go, she turned back to Sam, who asked, "Do you like it, baby?"

"I love it, Sammy. Thank you." She said for what seemed like the hundredth time that afternoon.  
"Good. Now, do you remember me saying this dress was special?" Evy nodded. "Do you want to know why?"

"Why?" Evy asked.

"Well, you see these flowers on the dress?" Sam asked, pointing one out to her. "They're roses. They were your mommy's favorite."

"Really?" Evy asked.  
"Really. Mommy's always watching over you, but when you wear this, it makes her smile." Sam said.

Evy was stunned. "Mommy's watching over me?"

"Yep." Sam said.

"Even from heaven?" Evy asked.

"Even from heaven." Sam said.

Even John, who normally stayed silent about Missy, spoke up. "She loved you, little one. And she still does."

"That's right, kiddo." Dean agreed. "I bet she's got a big ol' grin on her face looking at you right now."

Sam put Evy to bed that night feeling like he'd given her the best birthday ever. Evy treasured the dress. She wore it every day for a week, until Sam forced her to take it off and change so that he could wash it. He had to negotiate with her when she could wear it and when she couldn't. They ultimately agreed on her wearing every two days, and Evy wouldn't let him rest until he'd circled the days on the calendar for her. A month later, as Evy fell asleep, with the dress in a chair next to the bed, Sam kissed her cheek. He noticed that Evy had a picture on her bed that she'd drawn earlier that day. It was a picture of her and Missy, labeled 'Evy' and 'mommy'. In it, Evy was wearing her dress, and Missy was smiling at her and holding her hand.

"Good night, my beautiful girl." Sam whispered. "Sammy loves you. Mommy does too."


End file.
